TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Takes on the Challenge of 24 Hours of Nurburgring Endurance Race with New GR Supra and Second-Year Lexus LC

TOKYO, June 11, 2019 - (JCN Newswire) - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will compete in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Endurance Race, which takes place at Nurburgring in Germany from June 20 to 23, 2019.

GR Supra

Lexus LC

The Nurburgring 24 Hours Endurance Race is a demanding event that takes place over the course of 24 hours on the circuit that is 25km in length, has a maximum altitude difference of 300m, and features more than 170 corners. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has competed in this event since 2007 with the aim of "refining team members, refining cars" in pursuit of "making ever-better cars", and the race has represented the roots of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing ever since.The employees who compete and grow in such a demanding environment will apply their experience to vehicle development in the future. In addition, the cars competing at the race will incorporate and refine parts and advanced technologies intended for future road cars.

Last year, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing entered the Nurburgring 24 Hours Race with a single Lexus LC and managed to achieve its minimum target of completing the race. Still, the team was forced to carry out pit work that exceeded four hours and ended the race with very disappointing results. With this disappointment as a springboard, we have reviewed from the ground up the way we make cars and carried out numerous tests.This is also the first year that the GR Supra is competing in this race. After competing in the VLN Endurance Championship Nurburgring last autumn, the car has been further refined within this limited time in preparation for this year's 24-hour endurance race.We will compete this year with these two cars in this 24-hour endurance race with the goal of running for the full 24 hours and completing the race.

Lexus LC Chief MechanicToshiyuki Sekiya

Last year, Nurburgring showed us how demanding it is when we competed for the first time with the Lexus LC. The results were quite disappointing. This year, to overcome last year's issues, we have added significant improvements to produce the 2019 Lexus LC. We have carried out numerous tests, driving 3,000km in Japan and another 3,000km after coming to Nurburgring. Nurburgring presented us with issues each time we drove, and the drivers, engineers, and mechanics came together to make numerous improvements. I feel that both car and people have grown significantly. While there is little time left before the 24 hours race, we will continue to refine both cars and people up to the time our cars will on the grid. We will aim to achieve our goals and will take on the challenge of not giving up until the very end, no matter what happens. I hope all of you will support us.

GR Supra Chief MechanicHideyuki Tanaka

Up till now, we have been working on the GR Supra in preparation for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Endurance Race. We also competed in Races 2 and 3 of the VLN Endurance Championship Nurburgring as well as the qualifying race for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Endurance Race, and were able to identify various issues. At those times, I felt that it is not a simple task to complete a race at Nurburgring even if is just four or six hours, to say nothing of what might happen during a 24-hour race. Still, we will work as a united team to finish the race. I hope everyone will cheer us on with enthusiasm.

About Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is the global mobility company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in communities around the world. Together, they build around 10 million vehicles per year in 29 countries, from mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.